The MJ songs in order are "Man in the Mirror," "Smooth Criminal," "Billie Jean," "Thriller," "They Don't Care About Us," "Black or White," "Dirty Diana," "Beat It," "Who's Lovin' You," "Earth Song," and "You Are Not Alone." That certainly doesn't reflect the trend you claim.

^^
you can twist it as much as you like sweetie...all it comes down to is his biggest hit in the UK now is not on Off The Wall

LightOfArt said:

Errr, no. You can't twist an album chart, son. It is what it is. Please take your head out of the sand. Did you see the news reports after his death and documentaries? The focus was all on the earlier stuff. MITM is one of the last soulful MJ tunes. Tellingly, it was one of the few songs he didn't write on that album.

The first 25 Years = His Music Career

The second 25 Years = His Jacko Career

This isnt anything new, I have said this for 15 of those 25 years online about his "Yes Men", Pepsi Burn, etc.. Now we see more and more agree. It wasn't hard to see.

If you grew up in the first 25 years you wouldnt settle for what happened in the second half - if more were like me, he probably would still be alive.

and apparantly you are too scared to respond to this:



read it and weep

Here is the current UK album chart. OTW, Thriller and Jackson 5 compilations are riding high while the later albums are NOWHERE TO BE SEEN apart from compilations. Read it and weep.

LightOfArt said:

But the fact of the matter is albums play a more important part than singles. It is how an artist is critically and commercially assessed. The fact of the matter is MJ older albums are doing better than the latter. Everyone and their mama has Thriller, so there is no reason why that album should still be out-selling Bad and Dangerous now.

whatsgoingon said:

and his newer songs are doing better than his older songs...

anyway this thread is pointless and silly. people buy the albums because they like the music. it has nothing to do with one's skin tone...how stupid

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's memorial proved to be good for business, sparking another nostalgic frenzy for his music that continues to put the King of Pop atop music charts since his sudden death three weeks ago.

Jackson's catalog of solo albums sold 1.1 million U.S. copies in the week ended July 12, and his greatest-hits set "Number Ones" ranked as the top-selling album for a third straight week, Nielsen SoundScan reported on Wednesday.

Physical CDs, rather than Internet downloads, accounted for 90 percent of the business as music stores rushed to restock their Jackson inventory. Downloads had dominated sales immediately after his death.

The bulk of last week's sales came in the days following a two-hour-plus memorial salute to Jackson, which was televised live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles last Tuesday and featured numerous recording stars performing musical tributes.

The 1.1 million tally marked a 37 percent increase from the week before, when 800,000 Jackson albums sold, which in turn almost doubled the previous sales week, 422,000 units, ending just three days after his June 25 death.

By comparison, Jackson's entire catalog sold fewer than 10,000 albums the week before he died, and the last time he had a top-selling album while alive was his last studio release, "Invincible," which debuted at No. 1 with 366,000 copies sold in 2001.

Jackson's post-mortem sales total has now reached 2.3 million copies, led by "Number Ones," the first catalog album in SoundScan history to best a newly debuting album, a feat achieved for three weeks in a row.

"We never thought that could happen, and it turns out that the only person who could ever do it was Michael Jackson,' said Billboard magazine chart editor Keith Caulfield.

Ironically, "Number Ones" climbed no higher in the charts than No. 13 when it first came out in 2003.

This past week, it sold 349,000 copies to eclipse R&B star Maxwell's "BLACKsummer's Night," the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart of new releases with 316,000 units sold.

In fact, Jackson had six of the top 10 bestsellers last week, including his 1982 blockbuster "Thriller," "The Essential Michael Jackson," "Off the Wall," "Bad" and "Dangerous." All saw sharp increases over the previous week.

Five of Jackson's solo albums reached No. 1 in the charts during his lifetime -- "Thriller," "Bad," "Dangerous," "HIStory" and "Invincible."

All-time sales for "Number Ones" now stand at 2.6 million copies, and it also ranks as the eighth-best-selling album so far this year. If sales remain robust through the year, it could eventually even surpass the reigning No. 1 album, Taylor Swift's "Fearless."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

MJ's albums are all over the chart right now, but I can't help noticing the albums people are buying are all the earlier ones. Off The Wall was nowhere near as successful in it's day as later blockbusters like Bad and Dangerous, but those albums are nowhere to be seen while Off The Wall and even Jackson 5 compilations are selling like hotcakes.

I'm seeing posters of him in shop windows and people's cars and all the pictures are from the 70s or 80s when he was young, gifted and black (he was always black of course, but you know what I mean). I've seen some posters of him from 1987 when he was caramel coloured, but none after that.

Is history saying that the later MJ was shit? Or is it because the later MJ is associated with disturbing behaviour and people see the younger MJ as less tainted?
[Edited 7/15/09 8:41am]

"It doesn't matter if you're black or white".

It does matter, however, if you put out good music. Maybe people think Mike's music wasn't as strong as it was during Off the Wall, Thriller and even Bad.

If people are going to buy a compilation, they really should put in a few more bucks and spring for The Essential Michael Jackson.

Its because just like with Elvis they are focusing on the young hot looking Michael. Another thing I noticed is the media is hyping up the Off The Wall and Thriller album more than the others. Actually they've always done this. A few of my friends brought his albums that they heard were good, and were dissapointed with Off The Wall as I think most young people will be. I encouraged them to get the better albums 'Bad' and 'Dangerous', and as I expected they liked them more. I don't think Off The Wall is hooky enough for the young kids of today.

RONNYRON said:

ernestsewell said:

Agree. Those later MJ albums were MUCH MORE high profile and sold much more. But dude, Thriller DID NOT sell 109 million.

midnightmover said:

Check it again. You overlooked HIStory, which was #17.

Anyway, I still contend that the UK success of Off the Wall is greatly affected by its previous lackluster (relatively speaking, of course) performance there. That's the same reason I believe "Man in the Mirror" is doing so well there also.

I find it interesting that OTW is doing so well as an album while its songs aren't being bought and spun that much in comparison. Then again, it's easily his most consistent album IMO, so they may have something to do with it. At any rate, I think there are plenty of possible reasons for this that have nothing to do with his looks at the time.

AlexdeParis said:

Is that the one that's missing "I'll Be There" and "Never Can Say Goodbye"?...

Hmmm... it's a good collection, but still a bit incomplete.

Its because just like with Elvis they are focusing on the young hot looking Michael. Another thing I noticed is the media is hyping up the Off The Wall and Thriller album more than the others. Actually they've always done this. A few of my friends brought his albums that they heard were good, and were dissapointed with Off The Wall as I think most young people will be. I encouraged them to get the better albums 'Bad' and 'Dangerous', and as I expected they liked them more. I don't think Off The Wall is hooky enough for the young kids of today.

LightOfArt said:

But the fact of the matter is albums play a more important part than singles. It is how an artist is critically and commercially assessed. The fact of the matter is MJ older albums are doing better than the latter. Everyone and their mama has Thriller, so there is no reason why that album should still be out-selling Bad and Dangerous now.

AlexdeParis said:

Dude, let's not play silly games. You know History is half a greatest hits album, and that that is why it's in there. Why else would it be outselling Dangerous?

"Off The Wall" is way too fast and funky for most of the kids today. "Invincible" (the only Michael Jackson album I never bought) would be more their speed. They just didn't buy it while he was alive because it was Michael Jackson that made it.